Evolution / Genetics / Biology

Italian judge orders seizure of 'Victorious Athlete' held by the Getty Museum

An Italian judge ruled Friday that a fourth-century BC Greek statue known as Lysippus after its creator or the Victorious Athlete must be seized wherever in the world it is, rejecting a Malibu Getty Museum appeal.

Credit: Getty Museum

The statue, fished out of the sea off Pesaro in 1964, was bought by the Californian museum for around four million dollars in 1977 from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer.

Friday's was the third verdict of the same kind by the Pesaro judiciary.

Credit: ANSA

In November 2007 the John Paul Getty Museum was cleared of wrongdoing in the case of the ancient Greek bronze statue which is one of the jewels of its collection.

Italy has long claimed it was smuggled out of the country and has demanded that the Getty hand it back.